Impish Grin

Could anyone recommend some BPAL scents that would smell close to the discontinued MAC perfume oil called "Asphalt Flower?" It was discontinued in the early 2000's and was sold in a small vial along with two other scents. The notes in Asphalt Flower were: violet, patchouli, vanilla, ylang ylang, and heliotrope. I'd also appreciate any recommendations for any BPAL scents that are long lasting with these notes. Thank you.

Thanks for your recommendations. I'm going to order some imps soon. I got an email from the moderator saying that I should've put my post on the recommendation forum. I failed to check to see what heading I should've put it on before posting. Thanks again.

Hm... I can't say I know of any scents that are exactly like that, so I zeroed in on one less-than-common scent: Heliotrope. Here's what I got that I think is a close fit. • Greed (Sin & Salvation): "Base and earthy, yet glittering with golden notes: patchouli, heliotrope, copal and oakmoss." [This lacks the creaminess of the vanilla and much of the florals, though.] • Sheol (Ars Morendi): "Vibrant gladiola, graceful stargazer lily, triumphant iris and bright heliotrope flare, and is finally made somber by heavy copal, a drop of labdanum, and tonka." [if I remember correctly, tonka bean has a slight vanilla-like quality to it? Plus this has more florals going for it with the iris and lilies.] • The Witch Queen (Stardust): "Wild plum, red musk, tuberose, calla lily, heliotrope, pimento, ylang ylang and beeswax beneath a dark haze of sinister purple-hued incense smoke." [i'd imagine that the musk and incense smoke would be pretty close to your patchouli?] But you can always go to http://www.bpal.org/search/ and plug in what notes you liked from it and see what results you got. That's what I did. PS: For inquiries like this, you'd probably do best putting it in the Recommendations forum instead of the For Sale one. Welcome to the boards, though!

I bought several roll on bottles of the 2009 Asphalt Flower, but I was so disappointed. It's watered down and not an oil. It smells nothing like the original from 1999. I hardly recognized the notes from the original. I wore it once and the smell faded quickly. I store it under my sink in a basket. I paid $20.00 for each bottle and I bought four. What a disappointmnet. I read on some other blogs that others were disappointed as well.

I have this (thanks to a fab forum member here) along with the other two. I haven't run across anything from BPAL that smells like it. MAC released it again last year (I haven't tried the new one) BUT I have read it doesn't smell as good as the original. Which note stood out for you? I think on me it's the violet. ETA: There is a bottle of the new version on eBay and it looks like it's a roll-on.